Loading/unloading module of electric toy gun

ABSTRACT

In a loading/unloading module of an electric toy gun, and the toy gun includes a gun body, a piston shell installed to the gun body, and a loading/unloading module corresponding to the piston shell, and the loading/unloading module is provided for loading/unloading the piston shell to/from the gun body, and the loading/unloading module includes a fixing assembly, and the fixing assembly includes a receiving element of the piston shell installed to the piston shell and a latching element movably installed to the gun body and corresponding to the receiving element, such that the latching element can be turned to latch with the receiving element to fix the piston shell to the gun body, and the toy gun has a high structural stability after its assembling and can be assembled and disassembled easily.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an electric toy gun, in particular to an improved loading/unloading module of an electric toy gun.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As health and fitness become increasingly more popular in our life, toy gun is introduced as one of the leisure activities and simulates actual combat situations. With a highly safe environment of the activity, the toy gun not only achieves an exercising effect, but also provides recreations and entertainments to users, and thus the toy gun is promoted by manufacturers and accepted by users widely.

In general, a conventional toy gun includes a gun body, a piston module and a gear box, and a loading/unloading module is provided for loading/unloading the piston module to/from the gun body, and the loading/unloading module generally includes a plurality of insert pin holes formed at corresponding positions of the gun body and the piston module, and a plurality of insert pins corresponding to the insert pin holes respectively, such that after the piston module is assembled to the gun body, the insert pins are passed into the corresponding insert pin holes respectively to fix the piston module to the gun body. Although this fixing method is simple, convenient and quick, the connection between the piston module and the gear box is not secured sufficiently, and thus causing a poor overall structural stability as well as a safety concern.

In view of the aforementioned drawbacks, the inventor of the present invention based on years of experience in the related industry to conduct extensive researches and experiments, and finally developed a feasible and effective loading/unloading module of an electric toy gun in accordance with the present invention to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the present invention is to provide an improved loading/unloading module of a toy gun, and the assembled toy gun has a high structural stability, and the gun can be assembled and/or disassembled easily and quickly.

The present invention discloses an improved loading/unloading module of an electric toy gun, and the electric toy gun comprises a gun body, a piston shell installed to the gun body, and a loading/unloading module corresponding to the piston shell, wherein the loading/unloading module is provided for loading/unloading the piston shell to/from the gun body, and the loading/unloading module includes a fixing assembly, and the fixing assembly includes a receiving element installed to the piston shell and a latching element movably installed to the gun body and corresponding to the receiving element, such that the latching element can be turned to latch with the receiving element to fix the piston shell to the gun body.

Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages. The piston shell and the gun body can be assembled and/or disassembled simply, conveniently and quickly, and thus making the repair and maintenance of the toy gun very easily and convenient. Further, the assembled toy gun has a high structural stability to achieve a better safety by the enhanced stability of the connection between the piston module and the gear box.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view, showing an operation before a piston shell is assembled in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view, showing an operation after a piston shell is assembled in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of Section 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view, showing a loosened status of a piston shell in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic view, showing a fixed status of a piston shell in accordance with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The technical characteristics and contents of the present invention will become apparent with the following detailed description accompanied with related drawings. The drawings are provided for the purpose of illustrating the present invention only, but not intended for limiting the scope of the invention.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 for an improved loading/unloading module of an electric toy gun in accordance with the present invention, the electric toy gun comprises a gun body 1, a loading/unloading module 3 installed to the piston shell 2 of the gun body 1 and corresponding to the piston shell 2, and provided for loading or unloading the piston shell 2 and a gear box 6 to the gun body 1 quickly, so that the overall structure of the assembled electric toy gun is very secured, and the assembling and disassembling operations is very convenient and quick.

The loading/unloading module 3 comprises a joint assembly 4 and a fixing assembly 5 (as shown in FIG. 1), it is necessary to connect the piston shell 2 to the gun body 1 through the joint assembly 4 before the piston shell 2 is assembled to the gun body 1. In other words, the joint assembly 4 is slidably snapped into the slide slot formed on the internal sidewall of the gun body 1, so that the joint assembly 4 can mount the piston shell 2 onto the gun body 1. Since the joint assembly 4 has a simple structure, the piston shell 2 and the gear box 6 can be assembled to the gun body 1 easily and quickly. However, the linking action of the joint assembly 4 is insufficient to fix the piston shell 2 to the gun body 1 securely. On the other hand, the piston shell 2 can be fixed securely by the action of the fixing assembly 5, and the piston shell 2 can also be used for installing components such as a piston.

The technical characteristics and using method of the joint assembly 4 in accordance with this preferred embodiment are described as follows. The joint assembly 4 includes an upper slide portion 41 formed at a bottom edge of a front end of the piston shell 2 and a lower slide portion 40 on the gun body 1 and at a position corresponding to the upper slide portion 41 and coupled to the upper slide portion 41, and the lower slide portion 40 is a slide slot formed on an internal sidewall of the gun body 1. Therefore, the piston shell 2 can be coupled to the lower slide portion 40 of the gun body 1 through the upper slide portion 41 in order to fix the piston shell 2 onto gun body 1 (as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2).

The technical characteristics and using method of the joint assembly 4 in accordance with this preferred embodiment are further described as follows. The upper slide portion 41 of the piston shell 2 includes two slide bumps protruded from both lateral sides of the piston shell 2 respectively, and the lower slide portion 40 includes two slide slots formed on both internal sidewalls of the gun body 1 respectively, and the two slide bumps are slid into the two slide slots respectively for connecting the slide bumps with the slide slots (as shown in FIG. 5). The slide bumps and the slide slots are provided for achieving a quick assembling/disassembling effect, and the details are described below.

With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, after the gear box 6 is installed into the gun body 1, the piston shell 2 is assembled from top to bottom of the gun body 1, and the piston shell 2 is situated at a front end of the assembling position, such that the upper slide portion 41 of the piston shell 2 is situated in front of the lower slide portion 40 of the gun body (as shown in FIG. 3). Now, the piston shell 2 is pushed from the rear of the gun body 1, so that the upper slide portion 41 of piston shell 2 slides into the lower slide portion 40 of the gun body 1 (as shown in FIG. 4), and this method can assemble and/or disassemble the piston shell 2 and the gun body 1 quickly to achieve the effect of assembling and/or disassembling the gear box of the electric toy gun in an easy, convenient and quick manner.

More specifically, a socket 12 can be formed on an end portion 11 at the rear side of the gun body 1, such that when the piston shell 2 is mounted onto the gun body 1, the piston shell 2 is pushed backward (as described above) to sheath the rear end of the piston shell 2 into the socket 12 to further provide a fixing effect to the rear end of the piston shell 2.

In the present invention, the piston shell 2 is mounted onto the gun body 1, and then the fixing assembly 5 is provided for performing an operation of fixing the piston shell 2. The technical characteristics and using method of the fixing assembly 5 in accordance with this preferred embodiment comprises a receiving portion 10 and a latching element 20, and the receiving portion 10 is disposed at an end of the piston shell 2, and the latching element 20 is movably installed to the gun body 1 and corresponsive to the receiving portion 10, such that the latching element 20 can be turned to latch the receiving portion 10 to fix the piston shell 2 to the gun body 1 (as shown in FIG. 2).

The technical characteristics and using method of the fixing assembly 5 in accordance with this preferred embodiment are described as follows. The receiving portion 10 includes an abutting surface 100, preferably a portion of an end of the piston shell 2, but not limited to such arrangement only. The abutting surface 100 can be a component fixed to the piston shell 2 as well. The abutting surface 100 is corresponsive to the latching element 20, and its details will be described below.

The latching element 20 includes a pivot base 200, a latch bump 300 and a pivot 400, and the pivot base 200 is installed and secured onto the gun body 2, and the latch bump 300 is pivotally coupled to the pivot base 200, and the pivot 400 is pivotally passed through the latch bump 300 and the pivot base 200, and the latch bump 300 is disposed between the pivot base 200 and the receiving element 10. More specifically, the pivot base 200 includes a first pivot hole 210 formed thereon, and the latch bump 300 includes a second pivot hole 310 formed thereon and disposed corresponding to the first pivot hole 210, such that when the pivot 400 is passed through the first pivot hole 210 and the second pivot hole 310, the latch bump 300 can be pivotally moved on the pivot base 200 (as shown in FIG. 6).

The latch bump 300 includes a pushing portion 320, and the pivot base 200 includes a stop portion 220 corresponding to the pushing portion 320, and the latch bump 300 further includes a latching portion 330 corresponding to the abutting surface 100. Preferably, the pushing portion 320 and the latching portion 330 are formed at both ends of the diameter of an internal periphery of the second pivot hole 310 of the latch bump 300 respectively. When the latch bump 300 is pivotally turned, the pushing portion 320 and the latching portion 330 are moved in opposite directions of the tangential velocity (as shown in FIG. 6).

In this preferred embodiment, the latch bump 300 is preferably disposed between the stop portion 220 and the abutting surface 100. In actual practice, when the latching portion 330 and the abutting surface 100 are latched with each other (as shown in FIG. 7), the distance between a position of the pushing portion 320 used for abutting the stop portion 220 and a position of the latching portion 330 used for latching the abutting surface 100 is not smaller than the distance between a position of the stop portion 220 used for stopping the pushing portion 320 and a position of the abutting surface 100 used for latching the latching portion 330.

If the pushing portion 320 is not abutted against the stop portion 220, or the stop portion 220 is not in the state of stopping the pushing portion 320, while the latching portion 330 and the abutting surface 100 are not latched with each other, then the piston shell 2 will not be fixed to the gun body 1 securely, such that the piston shell is in a loosened status (as shown in FIG. 6).

The latch bump 300 is turned to latch the latch bump 300 between the stop portion 220 and the abutting surface 100 (as shown in FIG. 7). Now, the movement of an end of the piston shell 2 is limited by the joint assembly 4, and the distance between the stop portion 220 and the abutting surface 100 is smaller than the size of the latch bump 300 (or the distance between the pushing portion 320 and the latching portion 330), so that the latch bump 300 is in a compressed status, and thus causing the latch bump 300 to produce an internal stress for the recovery of the shape, wherein the internal stress will be exerted onto a side of the abutting surface 100 of the piston shell 2, and the movement of the other end of the piston shell 2 will be limited. This arrangement can fix the piston shell 2 to the gun body 1 securely.

More specifically, a surface of the latching portion 330 and the abutting surface 100 are substantially in an arc shape. Particularly, the surface of the latching portion 330 is in an inwardly concave arc shape, and the surface of the abutting surface 100 is in an outwardly convex arc shape, but the invention is not limited to such arrangement only. However, this arrangement can fix the piston shell 2 more securely and prevent the piston shell 2 from being detached from the fixing assembly 5 by a strong recoiling force that is produced when the toy gun is fired.

In addition, a lug 340 is formed on the latch bump 300 and provided for users to pivotally move the latch bump 300 conveniently. Particularly, when the receiving portion 10 and the latching element 20 are latched with each other, a very tight attachment can be achieved. Now, the latch bump 300 can be turned easily by the lug 340.

While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims. 

1. A loading/unloading module of an electric toy gun, and the electric toy gun comprising a gun body, a piston shell installed to the gun body, and a loading/unloading module corresponding to the piston shell, and the loading/unloading module being provided for loading/unloading the piston shell to/from the gun body; wherein the loading/unloading module comprises a fixing assembly, including a receiving portion installed to the piston shell and a latching element movably installed to the gun body and corresponding to the receiving portion, such that the latching element can be turned to latch with the receiving portion to fix the piston shell to the gun body.
 2. The loading/unloading module of an electric toy gun as recited in claim 1, wherein the latching element includes a pivot base installed to the gun body and a latch bump pivotally coupled to the pivot base.
 3. The loading/unloading module of an electric toy gun as recited in claim 2, wherein the latch bump is disposed between the pivot base and the receiving portion.
 4. The loading/unloading module of an electric toy gun as recited in claim 2, wherein the pivot base includes a first pivot hole formed thereon, and the latch bump includes a second pivot hole formed thereon, and the latching element further includes a pivot passed through the first pivot hole and the second pivot hole.
 5. The loading/unloading module of an electric toy gun as recited in claim 2, wherein the latch bump includes a pushing portion, and the pivot base includes a stop portion corresponding to the pushing portion.
 6. The loading/unloading module of an electric toy gun as recited in claim 5, wherein the latch bump further includes a latching portion, and the receiving portion includes an abutting surface corresponding to the latching portion.
 7. The loading/unloading module of an electric toy gun as recited in claim 6, wherein the pushing portion and the latching portion are separated apart with a distance equal to or greater than the distance between the stop portion and the abutting surface.
 8. The loading/unloading module of an electric toy gun as recited in claim 6, wherein the latch bump is disposed between the stop portion and the abutting surface.
 9. The loading/unloading module of an electric toy gun as recited in claim 6, wherein both latching portion and the abutting surface are substantially in an arc shape.
 10. The loading/unloading module of an electric toy gun as recited in claim 2, further comprising a lug formed on the latch bump.
 11. The loading/unloading module of an electric toy gun as recited in claim 1, further comprising a joint assembly, an upper slide portion formed at a bottom edge of a front end of the piston shell, and a lower slide portion formed at a position of the gun body and corresponding to the upper slide portion and coupled to the upper slide portion.
 12. The loading/unloading module of an electric toy gun as recited in claim 11, wherein the gun body includes a socket disposed at a rear side of the gun body, and a rear end of the piston shell is sheathed into the socket.
 13. The loading/unloading module of an electric toy gun as recited in claim 11, wherein the upper slide portion of the piston shell is a slide bump laterally and separately protruded from both sides, and the lower slide portion is a slide slot separately formed on two internal sidewalls of the gun body, and the two slide bumps are slid into the two slide slots respectively. 